it is a very fluid situation. that is how fox reports friday this july 29th, 2011. i'm harris faulkner in for shepard smith. a continuing coverage of the debt showdown throughout the evening and the weekend. i will see you tomorrow night for fox report. the factor is now. >> laura: hi, i'm laura ingraham in tonight for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us. right now harry reid has decided well, we're going to table the boehner bill and we're going to go to that live on the floor of the u.s. senate. harry reid speaking. or he was speaking and now he is not speaking. well, they are deliberating on whether they should consider this bill or not consider the bill. and we'll, you know, we will join it as harry reid comes back. and, james rosen is with us. of course, washington correspondent capitol hill. the man who knows everything that's going on. ed henry is going to join us in just a moment from the white house. james, harry reid gets up there just moments ago, and he moves

to introduce the boehner bill which is really to chevrolet the boehner bill, what's happening? >> use the boehner bill as a shell often legislation severine parliamentary pristles to move it quickly. take that bill, gut it and put in the guts of their own bill and, of course, we know how things will go from there? >> laura: before we go to ed, tell us about this big balanced budget amendment added after all this tea party pressure. added this to the final boehner bill, passed with still a squeaker vote what does that actually mean. >> 6:30 tonight eastern time, the second boehner bill passed. it's really the thirds if you count cut, cap, and balance. this bill which was so unpalatable to his tea party pull it from consideration. consideration. by virtue of still the same bill

two rounds of increasing the debt ceiling. so on. for the president to get round 2 of the extension to the debt ceiling, congress must have sent to the states for their ratification a balanced budget amendment. that requires in each chamber, the house and the senate, a two thirds vote. >> laura: they don't have two in other words of the house of representatives. >> the idea that they would ever see a two thirds voted for balanced budget amendment is folly. but this was what the tea party caucus demanded. >> laura: let's go to ed henry. ed is joining us now from the white house. he has been monitoring the situation. and, ed, the mood at the white house, after the boehner bill passes is one of what? what are you sensing? >> it was a on. if he thelt like there had been all these build up. spend all these hours waiting for it as we know a lot of times

in washington a lot of these do baits are preordained even if it passes the house as james laid out it's pretty much dead on arrival in the senate. however, a big caveat, i think, while there is a lot of confidence at the white house and among senate democrats that the boehner bill is going nowhere fast; it's unclear that the reid bill did k. go anywhere slow or fast. come this weekend, if the reid bill isn't going anywhere, the boehner bill is still one of only two bills as james pointed out that has actually passed one of these two chambers. it will be interesting if despite all the veto threats over the boehner bill if it ever got to the president's desk and all the hammering about how much they don't like it, if it's the only legislative vehicle standing come sunday or monday dare i say the white house may have to deal with what's on the table or face a default on tuesday. we have a lot more baseball yet to be played. let's put it that way. >> james, when you see how this played out. a lot of folks, myself included thought that the original boehner bill was a cleaner

vehicle and it would have had a chance, at least, of splitting some of these moderate democrats off from the majority ruling opinion that was to kill the boehner bill like mansion, and mark warner. >> without the balanced budget amendment. >> laura: now that the balanced budget amendment is in there do the house democrats have any pressure on them now to support this boehner bill except the pressure of time? >> well, as ed was laying out, it's not going to happen. they are going to try to craft their own compromise now which incorporates some elements of boehner, some elements of reid and see if it's something that everyone can coalesce around. what you are seeing here really two processes at once. one is the legislative gimmicky, the other is positioning themselves for default who gets blamed. >> laura: let's bring in "special report" host, of course, washington editor bret baier who has been following. this bret, look, the way this thing is playing out tonight, the senate gets this for one hot potato moment and harry reid

moves to table. tell us what you think. >> yeah. well, laura, what's happening right now is that the senate majority leader has asked for a vote to table this boehner bill has james has just described. but he is doing it with a 51, simple majority. usually you would need 60 votes to do that. what you are seeing now is a simple majority vote. if they get 51, and he will, because he has 53 democrats already on board to table this measure. the boehner bill will be tabled. it won't be killed. it will become the vehicle by which they put on this other compromise deal that they have been working on behind the scenes. they figure out over the next day what that's going to look like. we probably find out about it tomorrow. then it's voted on. that will need 60 votes to pass. if it passes there and we are talking probably early sunday morning, it could be really early in the morning on sunday morning, then it heads back to the house on monday. and it's in speaker boehner's

court to pass that likely with democratic votes and very few republicans. >> >> laura: bret, didn't the president tee this up today when he comes out in the morning and he said, look, the senate, you know, the bills aren't too far apart and there is room to work together here. so he emerged as the guy who is kind of the force for reconciliation, for people to come together. then he tees this up and over the weekend is anyone going to doubt that this debt ceiling is going to get raised given what the markets have done in the last six days? i think we have had 600 point drop in the markets. the pressure is going to be on all these guys to come to some deal at some point. >> definitely. there will be a lot of give. a lot of take. the key issue here hear in the senate is this trigger. is basically what this joint committee of democrats and republicans how forceful they will be to get into cuts and entitlements and to get deeper cuts down the road.

2.4 trillion that takes them through the election of 2012. that's the key right now. there will be a lot of push back from republicans and there will be some republicans like senator demint and senator paul who could potentially stand up and filibuster before this vote. and that would present a problem up against this deadline. >> laura: james, i keep going back to the dynamics of this market and what happened with this tarp thing. a few years back and market dropped 800 points. everyone freaks out and suddenly people are saying you have got to do something. then the pressure is really. >> let's say you are right and they come to some last-minute deal and the president signs it for extension, what you have. the boehner plan, the reid plan, whatever compromise the president could sign, none of that reaches the $4 trillion cuts figure. the figure is what the agents agencies said we need to get in place to avoid a downgrade. anyway you face it we are staring a downgrade in the credit ratings in the face right

now. >> laura: ed, i want to go back to you at the white house. james hit the rub there which is this downgrade inevitability. which a lot of people are calling it now. neither bill gets to that 4 trillion mark. what is the white house saying about this? they are raising the specter of it but no plan from the white house other than saying get together and do something. but that might not even be enough. >> that's right. because james is exactly right. this downgrade could happen whether or not a deal is forged or not because the deals on the table are far short in terms of deficit reduction compared to what wall street would like to see. and i think the broader picture when you take a step back, you know, on a normal day, without this debt crisis, we would have been talking right now about these awful g.d.p. numbers. economic growth. much weaker than expected in the last quarter just came out this morning. you put that together with this debt crisis and the already sky high unemployment, and putting aside the debt crisis just for a moment, this president's re-election is deeply in payroll when you look at the jobs,

economic storm that is not just brewing but is already out there. so, that is what has this white house especially spooked, you can guarantee is not just the short-term but the long-term. they are looking at what are the markets going to be like come monday if congress is still going through this vote-o-rama and nobody knows or sees some sort of compromise in sight. the markets on monday could take a battering. >> laura: i want to go back to bret baier. we are always curious about the players behind the scene. who is really driving the debate. i know it's probably not one person. people think john boehner has been deeply wounded by what happened within his own party. yet, he gave a very impassioned speech tonight after his bill passed. said basically you have to say yes at some point to something. really trying to get back in this game. is it mcconnell and reid's to play out here? will boehner be at the table and still have enough credibility to make his case? >> yes. i think speaker boehner did a lot today by how he got the votes together and how he managed to get this bill through. whether it resuscitates him

within his own caucus down the road is yet to be seen. he is a player though at the table. and by this vote passing the house tonight, by 218 to 210, his chip is now in the game. you're right, senator mcconnell and senator reid have been driving this. but there are other senators who are intimately involved. the gang of six has played a role. three democrats, three republicans. there are a lot of meetings happening behind closed doors. as far as we know, the president has not been intimately involved in a lot of this. he may have wanted to in the last day or so. but it's been essentially driven on capitol hill. >> laura: ed, back at the white house, the president gives a speech today, appears to talk about cafe standards, fuel efficiency standards, wanting to raise them by what is it o2050? >> 20 it 5. double them by 2025. >> it's a big deal. >> laura: it's a big deal. it seems a bit odd given the severity of what's happening to

our economy. .4% growth. a downgrade for the first quarter of this year. these numbers are abysmal. the economy has stopped growing, period it's over. >> no doubt about it the bottom line is they believe in the long term it's going to save a lot of oil and cut off our dependents of foreign oil big picture. short-term, you have to wonder, in order to get these vehicles much more efficient that rapidly the big three in detroit already stressed are going to have more economic stress. and so that is an issue. i think the other thing to watch moving forward while senator mcconnell was beating up on the white house today. the white house is looking ahead how they can get a deal this weekend. when you are talking about players with bret, others to watch are some of the younger members who don't have a lot of experience but have key votes in the senate floor. someone like scott brown of mass has who today said he could support the reid bill because he wants a compromise. why is he saying that?

not just that he is a moderate republican but up for re-election in massachusetts which is obviously very democratic. there are going to be folks like that in the middle who have not had a big say so far. but this weekend they are finally going to get their moment. >> laura: james, people like joe manchin of west virginia, john tester, mark warner, all these guys, kind of moderate democrats want to have those bone fidz to go back to the voters with. i think they will be more prevalent in these debates. >> marchible was on television today rebuking the president for not having reached out and called more democrats on the hill. >> laura: leadership question remains still the house passed two bills. the senate can d 6 them. bret go back to you on this. everyone can talk about john boehner being wounded and the tea party kind of up in arms and never going to be veafd the bottom line is he did what he had to do at the very end to get a bill through. right now, that's the only bill standing. that's the only bill that right

now is on the floor. >> that's right. this is what republicans will say is that wees passing things. where are you? the u.s. senate, they say has not and it's true, has not passed a budget in 820 days. and we are on a continuing resolution. it's worth pointing out that september 30th that funding ends. and we have another showdown. so, as tired as we are of debt ceiling space itis debt ceiling. the senate is voting on the boehner bill that passed 218 to 210 today out of the house. it is being voted on by the senate. they needed a simple majority of 51. senator reid, the democratic majority leader will get that number tonight. we're just waiting for the final tally. when that gavel comes down obviously we will listen in this moment is just a vehicle to take

them back to the house with this compromised piece of legislation that they hope to wrap up by the deadline of tuesday i think ed hit on something that's really important. 1.3%. and in addition to that the revisions of previous quarters. this is a huge story when you look at the narrative of the recovery that this administration has been trying to paint it is not there. they are now taking the "roll call" votes as can you hear them vocally in the background. >> laura: the president's approval rating. new gallup low of 40%. i know they say don't look at the polls. we have the agenda. 40%. i mean, you can say what you want about the tea party and the republicans he is the guy in charge and he has approval rating. how concerned is the white house tonight about those numbers. >> they have to be really

concerned. the bottom line i think that is why this president spent so much time monday in that prime time address. it's just a few days ago. feels like a couple weeks ago now, given all the round the clock negotiations we have seen. he spent so much time talking about how he has a balanced approach. it was all about trying to reach the middle. those independent voters. because those gallup numbers showing approval rating so low it's because those independent voters that helped decide elections are basically, they went to barack obama in 2008. they went to the house republicans in 2010. and flipped control of the house. a 2012, they are up for grabs again. and that has this white house extremely worried. let's not forget how the white house tried to frame this summer. bret says we are deep into debt ceiling itis. debt recovery summer. >> laura: i'm still recovering from the last one. >> i'm not sure whether debt

ceiling-itis is a bacteria or virus. if you look at the 10 states that barack obama carried by his slimmist margin in 2008, that ranges from missouri .4% up to pennsylvania 10%. in six of those 10 states the local polling shows a disapproval rating or a tie for his job approval rating: in five of those states, of those 10 states unemployment is over 8%. that is what they are really worried about. >> laura: let's just go back to what the administration could do, bret, when you look at the markets opening on a monday, okay? the administration can send out tim geithner, if things haven't gotten down to a deal, if bedon't have any compromise, nothing in the offing to be voted on, with bipartisan support, tim geithner comes out and says look, it looks pretty grim and he has asked a quell and answers it honestly, just that statement or something from bernanke can send the markets into utter turmoil. i still maintain that if that

happens, when that happens, this debate will become very academic, that debt ceiling is going to be increased, and i don't know what the republicans get in the end, but the debt ceiling is going to be increased. >> bret: bret sure. there is no doubt about it what we are looking at now is the sausage making compromise to try to get something that both sides are at least moderately happy about. but, you're right, each side has in their back pocket a couple of fail-safe pieces of legislation that they can move quickly if that does, indeed happen and the markets move like that. the treasury secretary has been adamant that august 2nd is that day. obviously there are people out there that argue that about the income coming in, the revenue coming in. i should say to the federal government that they could pay bills and maybe august 8th is the day. maybe it's later than that. that's not an argument that the administration has been willing to even budge on. and from every official saying that that is the drop dead day. and if you hear wall street, if you hear people talk about it,

it is a teetering point and how the markets react to it is key. i think the other key point here is that we wouldn't be at this spot of limping the debt ceiling increase to any cuts of spending or any effort to focus on the debt, the national debt of 14.3 trillion had it not been for the november 10 election. that is something that conservative republicans point to is that they're proud of this moment. not ashamed of it when you talk to them up on capitol hill because this is the focus now. and the nation, whether you like it or not, is paying attention to this issue of the debt and largely it wouldn't have, they argue, if the administration had their way. in april, they wanted a clean debt ceiling increase without any tie to any spending cuts or anything else. this is not a position they want to be in. you are right. the debt ceiling will be raised though no matter what. >> laura: an excellent point, bret. we know if the tea party didn't force all these victories last

november. the debt ceiling would have been raised and we would have been on to spending and more taxes or that's just a fact. utah congressman jason is with us. he was one of the 22 republicans who actually voted against the boehner bill and he joins me now from capitol hill. congressman, we are watching things unfolding in the senate now with this move to table the boehner bill let's talk about what happened today with this dramatic vote in the house of representatives. in the end even with the balanced budget provision, you decided congressman, you couldn't support us. support it tell us? >> i support the speaker. i admire him but i couldn't support this bill. we have a debt crisis. what we did is we gave new authority for the president to raise $900 billion in debt ceiling increase. yet, the first year cut. which is really the real cut. that you have to look at. it's the only thing that we can really have control over is only $7 billion flerdz, if you look

at it. we deficit spend about $4 billion a day. we only cut less than two days worth of deficit spending that we have through the year. that's what i ultimately couldn't supreme court it. >> jason, in the end, do you think that you will be closer to your goal of balance budget, shrinking government because you voted against this bill or is it more at this point a vote on principle this is what you campaigned on and which this is what you are going to do. >> i think it's a little of both. don't give up on cut, cap and balance. it had more republicans votes than the vote we had today. we also had five democrats vote. you had more votes on both sides of it. i don't care if it's over the next 36 hours or the next 36 days or months or years, i will continue to fight for a balanced budget amendment to put it on the second -- that's good, it's better than nothing, but it's not as good as making the balanced budget amendment the focus of what this country is looking at, because it will truly change the way we do business in washington, d.c.

that's what we have to do. >> laura: congressman, just so i'm clear. you actually think the final bill that accompanies the rise in the debt ceiling is going to be stronger than the original boehner bill? >> i have got to fight for what's right. i didn't come back here to congress. >> laura: i would say that's a no? >> i have really got to fight for it i'm not just going to go along with everybody else and say well you know we are going to gravitate. >> laura: i'm playing devil's advocate here because it's an interesting conversation. it's moot now we have moved on. still, there are a lot of people concerned that john boehner is pretty grievously wounded politically after what happened and he obviously moved and compromised at the end more than he probably wanted to. he got the votes and now people still aren't happy. so, i guess there are a lot of people asking, you know, will you guys ever be happy? you don't have the senate. you don't have the white house yet. when you do i guess you can do all these things. but, in the meantime, the speaker of the house, you know, was dealt a pretty severe below. >> no. the speaker is doing a great

job. we have actually passed two bills. actually doing our job while the president is over there talking about cafe standards, we are actually doing the work that we are supposed to be doing. i'm proud of the work that we have done. i'm proud of john boehner. we're going to continue to fight to reign in spending. remember, it was february of 2010, not too long ago that the president and the democrats who had the house and the senate and the presidency, they got a $1.9 trillion debt ceiling increase with barely even a whisper. and now every time this thing comes up, we're going to continue to fight for that balanced budget amendment. >> laura: all right, congressman, great to see you. thanks so much. now we turn to oklahoma congressman james lancaster ford who voted for boehner's debt limit bill. i know you aren't in the pig pile on each other mode at this point. it is an interesting question whether the final deal will be better or worse off for conservatives like yourself given the fact that it was ultimately deep six and this provision was added on for the balanced budget. what's your take on where this is going. >> i'm a freshman legislature.

what i have seen in the past bills don't get better as they get closer to the deadline. musted most we is can probably get. work on rereal reform. i felt like the cut cap and balance was much better, this one i think is not as good but i'm not sure it's going to be add good next time as well. we have got to get serious reforms through. >> laura: hold that thought. we will get back to you. we have got to get back to the senate floor and watch what's happening there. >> the clerk will report. >> the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment number 589 to the house amendment to s-627. >> i ask yeas and nays on my motion. >> is there sufficient second? there appears to be sufficient second. >> i also, mr. president have a cloture motion which is at the desk. >> the clerk will report. >> cloture motion we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to

bring to a close a debate on the reid motion to concur in the house amendment to s 627 with an amendment numbered 589. >> bret: what is happening here on the senate floor, we just had a vote on the boehner bill, it passed with a vote of 59-41. they only needed a simple majority of 51. it's interesting that the number was 59 because it is short of what is the normal number needed for vote like this. which is 60. this was a special motion made by senate majority leader harry reid. it passes now. the boehner bill is tabled. this means that the boehner bill is put aside. but just to explain, they are not killing that bill. they are going to use that bill as the vehicle by which they're going to send back a compromise that we still don't know the details of. we expect that that will be formed over the next day, and be sent back on the boehner bill but they will scrap out all the

things that are in boehner, at least some of them and put it back to the house after a vote in the senate. that will be the vote to watch. likely early sunday morning, where it will need 60 votes to pass. depending on what that compromise is between now and then, that will determine whether there are enough votes in the u.s. senate to pass that back to the u.s. house of representatives. tonight, the effort has been tabled and the boehner bill essentially has been put on hold. put on ice, laura 59-41. >> laura: this is dramatic stuff, bret, thanks so much. james, like 59, they needed that one extra vote for the added assurance they didn't get it but harry reid did not waste any time to move to table this. it becomes a shell as bret said. we don't know what's going to be inserted into that shell and then it will be moved into the house of representatives. >> harry reid doesn't know this is a former prize fighter. what he is doing here is counter punching.

he waited until boehner took his best shots, how many of them there were, and now is he going to try to counter punch. he waited very long to do. this he will could have had his own plan, his own bill in the senate any point along the way here. he took a few shots, now is he going to try to take his best shot. >> laura: is ed henry with us at the white house? >> yes. >> laura: are the white house watching this? are we going to get any file photos of the family watching this vote? i mean, is it that dramatic there or are they off doing something else? >> not that dramatic. they are keeping an eye on it but they are not watching minute by minute per se because they realize that this is just the prelude to the real battle that's going to happen this weekend. they are essentially the boehner bill will now be used by senate majority leader harry reid as the underlying vehicle legislatively to make dramatic differences between the reid and boehner bill. to use james' analogy and

metaphor here they are waiting for the main event. this is the pre-fight chatter. another metaphor you may want to use though is the gambling metaphor harry reid is also from las vegas. earlier today he said, look, if you are a gambling person, the republicans, as you were mentioning earlier, laura, have gotten a lot. you know, they have gotten this to essentially be all spending cuts. and no tax increases at all, despite what the president had originally been pushing. he basically said you should take your chips, put them in your pocket and go home. and we'll see whether or not republicans take that advice. so far they haven't. >> laura: let's go back to congress lank ford from oklahoma. you have been thrown into this fire. your first hill on capitol hill. this is pretty dramatic. now the face is finally focusing thanks -- the nation is finally focusing thanks to the tea party on this kept debt ceiling. clare -- grand compromise.

are you concerned that by the time it gets back to the house next week it's not something at that point you can support? >> i'm quite confident it won't be. what's interesting is i look at it and think you know he tabled our cut, cap and balance over a week ago, he could have done this same thing over a week ago and avoided all the drama here at the end. the senate is the one that's been holding the thing up. table it and make it into a show and send it over to the house how come he didn't do it with the first bill over? is it because he didn't have a plan at that point? i don't understand why he didn't do that before. in reality is the house tomorrow at 1:00 we will vote on reid's bill pick it up as our own and vote it down. they will vote it there. force this to be able to go to something we can negotiate so we can focus on the serious issues. reforming the system. >> laura: this is like tennis match back and forth, back and forth. >> laura: what are your constituents saying? i know have you been flooded with calls and emails. what's the tenure and what are they urging you to do? >> 10 million rumors are flying

out there. this kills medicare to you are cutting off social security and cutting off veterans. to just go for anything to hold fast and don't budge at all. the problem is getting actual factual information especially about boehner bill we just passed. it has great reforms in it that people can run down the amount that's been put into it for this first year and i would like for it to be a lot higher. quite frankly getting a balanced budget amendment. solid vote in the house and senate getting real spending cap with a super majority is a huge accomplishment. that's how we got the balanced budget in the 90's. >> what do you say then to congressman chaff? i like boehner the bill is a disaster. it's not serious. what do you say to your fellow congressman? >> you know what? we each try to hold each other to account for how we live our lives. when we vote the issue is you are accountable to the people back home and you represent what's happening in your district. we're all hearing different voices i'm going to honor every one of my colleagues that are --

they are going to try to honor their constituents back home. >> laura: your duty is also to the united states of america, right. >> it actually is. >> laura: that's the most important duty. if our nation is imperiled by ongoing drama at some point you do have to give. james, i want to get you in on this compromise has become, you know, a dirty word for a lot of people. i understand why because usually it's conservatives, from my perspective, who, you know, get shafted in a compromise. they are very scepght particular call of it yet, we are at the point where that is what is going to have to happen. i think it's a hard pill for a lot of these tea party folks to swallow. i do understand that. >> after the boehner bill passed, there were actually house republican freshman sending out press releases boasting of having successfully pressured the leadership. that wouldn't have happened in an earlier era. >> laura: fascinating. we will go back to bret baier who is telling us what is happening on the senate floor, bret. >> after we told you about the tabling of that boehner bill

59-41 what's going on is an argument between the senate majority leader and senate minority leader whether a super majority or simple majority should be used. let's listen in. >> mr. president snawbled. >> mr. president, i think we would all agree it's fairly routine to have the 60 vote threshold in the senate. particularly on a matter of enormous significance like this. it's really almost unheard of to suggest that a matter of this magnitude would be dealt with at a 51 vote threshold. so where are we? i mean, it's an interesting history lesson that my friend gives us about various debates we have had in the past but this is where we are right now. where we are right now is our good friends on the other side do not want us to move forward with a vote on what they're advocating. >> yes we do. >> the majority leader talk about -- can we have order in the senate, mr. president?

[gavel] >> the senate will be in order. >> we just heard the majority leader making the on the proposal. we would like to have the vote on cloture on the motion -- cloture on his measure tonight until so we could move forward in that -- and finally get a resolution here so. we have. >> bret: so this is senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. it's interesting to see that shot with senator kyl behind him and senator dine feinstein a republican and democrat is sitting together behind him. this argument is about moving forward on the reid plan, the senate majority's plan and whether there should be 60 votes i said super majority. that's not true. 60 votes, normal voting or simple majority 51 votes. that's the argument that's going on. a little flavor. it's always fun at 8:30 to see the senators in action, isn't it. >> laura: we have to, would. at least they have to, would. that's totally fine. bret, when you watch this play out, mcconnell is such a statesman and he is so

gentrified and very refined he clearly is very annoyed at this moment. tempers are flaring. these two men are going to have sit down at a table together over the weekend or early next week and they have to figure this out. and they have been. and, yet, as far as i can tell and what ed henry has said is that the president himself has not been actively engaged as much as maybe we thought on the phone today with any of these individuals. go ahead, bret. >> bret: sorry to interrupt. remember, this is about the reid plan. they have now put aside the boehner plan that is kind of on ice. not dead but it's on ice. and they are not talking about senate majority leader reid's plan. now, there is a worry and kind -- the going bet is that he doesn't have 60 votes on his plan. as it's written now because they need to do this compromise. a little bit of this is

shomanship for the cameras. they are back and forth and he they will be behind closed doors very soon. >> laura: bret, what about the mcconnell plan that everyone gasped at when they first heard about it i actually didn't gasp because i thought is he a smart guy and there is something to this the mcconnell fail safe if all else fails where you would have three votes to raise the debt ceiling. some linkage and some triggers add later on. if the end could that be what emerges from all of this chaos of the last week the plan that everybody pretty much said they thought was a nonstarter? >> it could be. it really could be. it could be an element of the boehner plan, the mcconnell plan, and the reid plan that comes together in some frankenstein that goes to the house and then is voted on because basically what the mcconnell plan allowed republicans to do a no vote. essentially disprove a debt limit increase down the road. and that was easier for people to get through.

it's legislative maneuvering and we're talking about things that go over most people's heads even here in washington. but, i think the three plans may merge together in some way. >> laura: all right, bret. thank you so much. let's go back to ed henry. ed, earlier today you were talking about the president's schedule next week and we're fast forwarding to next week because this thing could drag out longer than any of us thought. next week he has something on his schedule, ed, in chicago. tell us about that and why it is so important. >> yeah. my ears perked up when jay carney said look, next week basically there is only one thing on the president's schedule. basically one or two things every single day. only thing next week on the schedule is wednesday going back to chicago for big democratic fundraiser tied to his 50th birthday. i marked a big birthday a little less than the president but i won't make too much of that. he basically was saying that, look, jay carney said, he is going to go to chicago because they are confident they will

have a deal on tuesday because if they don't have a deal there is no way the president is going to go to a democratic fundraiser the next day if the economy goes through some drastic crisis. but i was also struck by two other things. number one, when asked about thursday and friday, jay carney said there was nothing on the schedule. that, to me is, a sign that they're holding back because they could cancel that fundraiser and then he would be here on thursday and friday dealing with the economic fall-out. number two, at that auto event that you were talking been about on fuel efficiency somebody came up to the president and said basically look i'm from chicago and you still owe me a poker game, the president said look, i'm engaged in a high stakes poker game right now. not certain he is going to worry about playing poker with this guy. that gives you an idea. valerie jarrett one of his top advisors did an interview saying the president is not sleeping a lot. this is weighing on him. this is a big, big deal. he has had a lot of important moments in his presidency. there is a lot riding on this moment right now, laura. >> laura: all right.

well, when we come back, i want to get more from both of you, james. i want to talk about the presidential contenders out there. we haven't heard from a lot of them. although michele bachmann, many people say, scored a big win in last-minute input from the tea party. mitt romney not saying much. what does that mean? when we come back we will give you all the angles and latest from the senate vote that's going on. all the sausage making behind closed doors. now for all the country to see. we will continue to track it here on the o'reilly factor on the fox news channel. stay with us for all the details. oday. automotiveerformance is gone. and all we have left are fallen leaves and broken dreams. oh. wait a second. that is a dodge durango. looks like american performance is doing just fine. ♪ carry on. ♪

>> laura: you are looking at a live picture of the senate floor where the senate just tabled the boehner debt bill. the far left is out in force launching a ba rage of verbal attacks at tea party members over the debt ceiling chaos. >> the problem with this is it's like a form of economic

terrorism. tea party guys are like strapped with dynamite standing in the middle of times square at rain shower and saying you do -- rush hour, you do it my way or we will blow up the whole country. >> any faction of american that would put a gun to the head of 310 million people that say don't do it our way we will blow your dreams away and blow a hole in the economy. we refuse to bough down to bully tactics. >> laura: joining us from new york is cathy contributing editor to the "the washington post" magazine and david webb a tea party activist. so, i'm trying to keep this straight. domestic terrorists and tom freidman of the "new york times" writes if the g.o.p. did not stand up to this hezbollah faction in their midst it would basically be a suicide mission and nic kristof called them domestic terrorists. i thought after gab guy gabby

give. the president called for it and he admonished people. i thought we were down this new path of getting along. i want to start with you before we get to the tea party perspective. are we going a little overboard here in the country is still standing the last time i checked. >> yeah, a little overboard. but, i mean, this is an emotional time and some of the people in the republican party are acting like children and it sounds like. >> laura: the democrats never do that but go ahead. >> i'm thinking that the parents are saying you are acting like children, it's time to calm down and stop saying no, no, no, no. you have to work and learn to be civilized adult and that's the problem. the parents are reprimanding the children and sometimes it comes off. >> laura: i think the parents sound a little silly themselves because the tea party is actually the group that got everybody to the table to actually have this discussion. right now the stuff that's going on in the senate floor right now is only happening because of the tea party revolution that took place last november. now, we might disagree on strategy. we might think the tea party pushed a little too much. there is no doubt about it that the tea party is responsible for

this current debate. david, let's go to you. you don't look like a domestic terrorist to me. you don't look like a member of hezbollah. but i guess if you are a tea party person in the united states, you can pretty much have anything said about you with impunity. >> laura, look, my mother is watching and they did believe actually in positive reinforcement. they didn't call me names. but, you know what? let the left keep doing this and far left demonize and marginalize, americans are basically fair. they believe in disagreement but not being disgusting and disagreeable and, look, according to the left, i have stockholm syndrome, i'm the house and word. i'm the uncle tom. i mean, it's nothing new. can you guys come up with something different? because most rational americans on all sides look at the van jones and the rattners and the gee neon garofalos and mar. whether you attack sarah palin and statements about tea party activists. the fact is that people just

haven't bought it nancy pelosi said it even president obama tried to play goof on us and what ended up happening? november 2010. we are the adults in the room. the fact is we wouldn't have this debate if the tea party didn't exist. >> laura: cathy, i'm trying to put myself in the position of a democrat who supported obama. bleefnt, i can do that. can i actually make myself think that i'm thinking, i'm thinking, okay, i don't think the tea party is who i would be really upset with now, because i kind of know what the tea party is all about. i know what they are thinking. i would be kind of really upset with geithner, obama, biden, and the whole crew who seems to have basically shuffled off the responsibility for coming up with any type of framework or plan to other people to do and then they are crying there is no leadership. i would be mad at obama. the tea party is the tea party, right? >> i think the tea party has made a fool out of themselves and i think the american people have seen now what they really stand for which is what? they don't each know what they stand for. they are making absolutely no

sense. they were all about grover nor quest and his tea party was all about lowering taxes and cutting the spending. this is not what this tea party is about. they are standing there not comprehending that their actions are going to lead to consequences and these consequences could be horrific for the united states of america. >> laura: cathy, were you saying the consequences were going to be horrific for the united states of america when this president spent more in terms of adding to the debt in his first 19 months than president washington to reagan combined? was that a bad thing to the country or something to applaud. >> he inherited a horrific economy. >> laura: bush's fault. okay. >> raising this debt ceiling right now has nothing to do with when obama done. these are all debts that were acquired with our previous president. this has nothing to do. >> laura: responsible and adult. david and cathy you have on longer. crazy night here. thank you for joining us. really appreciate it. when we come back, the latest from the senate floor, details

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>> laura: with me now former special counsel to president clinton lanny davis. are from new york with reaction to all of this fox news radio guy alan colmes. both of you great to sigh. also awaiting a press conference from democratic leaders including harry reid. all right, lanny. let's go back to your days in government and your days in the white house and obviously the president and his top aides are watching this play out tonight. some of this parliamentary. you know, probably more details than people want to know. but, nevertheless, this is dramatic moment for his presidency, for the congress,

and for our country. what is running through his mind >> what's the exit here if the senate passes something and the houses no and the clock ticks to midnight. i think there is probably a serious look at the 14th amendment. i'm not sure what other alternatives there are, if that's what it comes down to, laura. >> laura: alan, looking at the poll numbers, we talked to ed henry and james rosen about this earlier. the president, gallup has him at his lowest point 40% approval. and losing ground among generic matchup with generic republican candidate. this is not maybe helping the republicans this debate but also not helping the president. >> hurting the republicans more. of the problem the republicans have when they actually name a candidate that's when they are in trouble. the president will do well -- especially if he takes strong action and if he has continue to vehicle the 14th amendment, i think people will see this. most people want this involved. they want it done. they want a deal. and if the republicans are going to be seen as the ones this

boehner bill it's a big waste of time. dead in the senate. never be signed by the president. true ofly an exercise in getting john boehner trying to keep his job. that's what it this saul about. >> laura: job boehner to keep his job. i think what we saw was an actually plan. not one plan but two plans arrived at the senate and the senate rejected it but that's the process, is it the not,alan. >> no way a balanced budget amendment is going to pass. he should have been negotiating with the president and democrats. he was going in the wrong direction. no wave it's going to pass. not going to be balanced budget amendment. they are wasting our time while rome is burning. >> laura: actually yelling me does not make your point any better. >> sorry, i didn't hear you. >> laura: i do think when you look at the polls most people think we should have a balanced budget. >> not a balanced budget amendment. >> laura: they don't think it is an unreasonable thing to discuss this and have it front and center. whenever you think about the tea party, they actually, you know, disagree with a lot of the strategy myself but you have got to hand it to them they got this

injected in this bill and now it's in the hands. >> not going to pass. >> laura: shell vehicle, right? >> laura, the problem is that the balanced budget is not -- it's timing. there has never been a balanced budget amendment that could pass any congress when the republicans controlled congress they couldn't pass it. >> laura: i didn't say it was probable. i'm talking about the tactical advantage and who is actually looking like they want structural form. we know alan and lanny, do we not that this president would never be talking about this issue of whether to raise the debt ceiling or not or whether to cut spending or not. he wouldn't be talking about this if it weren't for these republicans who held firm. do you disagree with that? >> i disagree with what the country is seeing in washington. not seeing what you are saying. they are seeing tactics at the expense of the public interest. and i think there is disgust with party leadership on both sides here, laura. and for them to bring up a balanced budget amendment to challenge their own speaker embarrass their own speaker at the very last minute when we are

really faced with a national calamity if this country goes into default i think is very shortsighted and hurting the republicans in my judgment a lot more than it will the democrats in the long run. >> it's hurting the stock markets and 401(k)'s because they are dithering. >> laura: alan, do you think the president has led in this crisis. >> yes, absolutely. this is a right wing talking point that somehow the president hasn't led. he has tried time and time again to reach out, bring people to the white house, negotiate a deal. have a larger deal so don't have to do it again in three months. of course he has led. >> laura: i think there are s. a lot of democrats who think he hasn't led including joe marchible. >> not this one. is he a conservative democrat in a conservative district. >> laura: heaven forbid. we appreciate it lanny and alan. >> thank you. >> laura: we will awaited this press conference from democratic leaders coming up here on "the o'reilly factor." do you not want to miss the drama. stay with us.

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budget amendment in it. get a sense there is quite a bad bit of blooded and now they are moving on to consider the reid bill. >> and tomorrow the house is voting on the reid bill to vote that down. the amazing thing is we are just days away. we don't have a deal. talking about the house bill, it will be a shell and then send it to the senate and then send it back to the house. we don't have a deal yet so therefore nothing can happen. and the amazing thing is that when they do announce a deal and i think it will come from reid, mcconnell with boehner's input and the senate will vote on it, i think it will be difficult to get it through the house because of the freshmen, because of the tea party lawmakers and also because of the liberals. a lot of the liberals in the house want to use the 14th amendment and they don't like reid's plan and a little irked at the president for putting entitlements on the table. i think the vote in the house

on the final deal is going to be difficult and could turn into a debacle. >> laura: , james, you heard bob spell it out. still a lot of bad taste in the mouths of the republicans. a lot who voted for the boehner bill didn't like it and others were like gosh we had a bill and we blew it. the dynamics are hard to gain. >> the division between the parties and the deep, deep internal divisions within the parties. if any other country were this dysfunctional in the arrange of its affairs its fiscal house of order we would put a conserve aitorship in there and say you guys can no longer govern your financial affairs you need the imf. we don't have that option. the damage is done. the ship has sailed. we will get a downgrade to our credit rating. that is going to send interest rates higher for every american. >> laura: for every american the cost of living going up.

and bob, we don't know when or if that is going to happen. a lot of people announcing the credit rating is going to be downgraded and this is a long time coming for this. heaven forbid, if that happens in the next few days, we don't know when it is going to happen. it could happen tomorrow or monday. then the whole debate becomes academic, does it not? >> you are both right. come august 2 i think there is a decent shot that a bill will not be signed into law by august 2. that doesn't mean we are going into default. some people think there is more including theilding democratic democrats we talked to. the next 72 hours could be enormously dramatic and could have a huge ramification on the 2012 election. >> bob james, thanks so much. great to see you both. is it for us tonight. thank you for watching. i'm laura ingram in tonight for bill o'reilly. the spin stops right here. stay tuned because we are al